It was only some few weeks back when June 4 anniversary was celebrated in Tamale with pomp and under the theme that borders on probity and accountability.

These two words have been drummed in our ears several times that I still wonder why we have corruption in our body politic. To exemplify probity and accountability, some eight Ghanaians were made to face the firing squad for what was perceived to be corrupt practices in their time. Ghanaians were not told what their offence was. They were not brought into open court and tried. However they were found guilty and shot like dogs. Some Ghanaians celebrated that. Some did not. Today I revisit the theme of probity and accountability pari passu what is currently happening in Ghana in relation to the property of Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings. To some of us the property at Adjirigano has remained a rumor until today. I have always believed that if it is true that president Rawlings has such a property, then he has to account for it. Obviously he has failed to account for this property all along. I believe as the high priest of probity and

accountability, President Rawlings could tell Ghanaians where he got the money to put up that property and how much it is worth. He will then be practicing probity and accountability and not preaching it. Failure to do this means this man takes Ghanaians for fools. Not too long ago, President John Agyekum Kufour invited journalists into his

house to take a tour. These journalists came into his chambers and took pictures. Mr. Kufour is not a disciple of probity and accountability. He has never preached it anywhere in his life. He has never made any person pay with his life to exemplify probity and accountability. In his small way president Kufour practiced probity and accountability. Is this what is difficult for President Rawlings to do? If Rawlings does not take steps to tell Ghanaians about this property and how he got it, then Ghanaians should not take him serious again. He should also take steps to apologize to those he executed in the name of probity and accountability. Ghanaians should take their minds off the kidnapping issue and leave the police to deal with that. Let us discuss the issues which shape our moral thinking. Morality demands that if you judge someone by a certain standard, you need to be judged by same. Why do we continue to leave Rawlings off the hook? Another issue that bothers me greatly is the renovation work carried out at the Nyaniba estates residence for Mrs. Rawlings. From News reports president Rawlings is not staying at Nyaniba estates but the wife is. The said residence does not belong to either Rawlings or the wife. The wife is not a former president of Ghana but the husband is. The state has no business in putting a pesewa there until president Rawlings moves there. If anything at all government

should be concerned about where President Rawlings is staying currently with the

view to making him comfortable and secure. The attention being given to the wife

and where she is staying is not here or there. Sometime ago a young man on radio made an assertion, a case which is still at the court. From what I am hearing, I am beginning to believe in what the young man said on radio. If Ghanaians are being told that government is waiting for the design from the Rawlingses before rebuilding the house at Ridge, then we

have to hold what Nana Darkwa said to be true. If actually government has requested the Rawlingses to provide it with its own plan, then we have lost the fight for what integrity stands for. Ghanaians should open their eyes and watch closely what enfolds in the coming days, months and years. One does not need to be a professor before understanding that we are being taken for a ride. I got off that dead horse in 1979. There are those who are still riding that dead horse and cannot get the smell that the horse is rotten if they cannot see.

FROM :PRINCE OSEI BONSU,BRONX -NEW YORK.